Over the past few years, I have acquired the habit of writing in a journal every day. I came to this habit due to the acclaim from my favorite personal development authors and podcasters. At first, I was extremely skeptical of the supposed benefits. I did not understand how documenting my daily experiences could improve my mental health. Yet, it is because of my daily journaling habit that I have noticed a dramatic increase in my ability to intuitively understand my emotions. An improved self-understanding helps me cope with stress and gain more control over my inner (often turbulent) emotional world. This is in large part due to the daily effort of investigating my thoughts and confessing my fears, hopes and insecurities. I'd like to share the three benefits I’ve received from journaling every day and why I think you should do it too.
1. Journaling helps me cultivate gratitude.
Far too often I go through my days either wishing I could change my past or anticipating hardships of the future. I become so consumed by the fictional scenarios of my imagination that I become disconnected from the present moment. Being apart of the generation that was baptized by social media, I naturally compare myself to my peers and heroes. Constantly taking inventory of my life and possessions and seeing how they compare to my peers has caused me nothing but discontent. Being so out of touch with all that I have right now leaves me anxious and yearning. The curse of having an abundance is that the more I receive, the more I forget the value of each individual gift. I journal to remind myself of the simple and beautiful things in life that I take for granted, things such as: health, sight, the ability to walk, food and drinkable water. This indiscriminate and simple gratitude is easily understood yet seldom expressed.
Journaling stops me from self-sabotaging my chance at the greatest precursor to happiness: gratitude. Taking the time to journal about all that I have to be grateful for rips me from the throws of forward thinking and brings me back to where I always am: the present moment.
Journaling Topic #1: Take 15 minutes to write about things you are grateful for:
Your friends and family.
Your health and senses.
Moments that have changed your life for the better.
People that have helped you accomplish your goals.
2. Journaling helps me understand myself.
What drives me to write in my journal is a desire to translate daily experience into knowledge for my future self. To pack my writing full of wisdom, I am forced to pay attention to what goes on around and inside me. It is attention to experience – not book smarts – that provides the most useful and moving form of knowledge.
I find it ironic that I spend all day with myself, yet I do not know exactly who I am. Each day I experience positive and negative emotions, yet I rarely acknowledge how these feelings impact my actions. If I do not take time to analyze the emotional forces governing my behavior, they could negatively impact my life without my consent. Journaling brings my deepest internal conflicts to the forefront of my mind and gives me the opportunity to work through my problems in a rational way.
Expressing your emotions on paper allows you to learn things about yourself that previously went unacknowledged. You must become aware of something before you have the opportunity to change it!
Journaling Topic #2: Take 15 minutes to write about:
Your greatest dreams and goals. Why do you want these things?
Which interactions triggered negative emotions and why?
Your favorite qualities about yourself.
Something you would like to improve on. What steps can you take to change?
Something that triggers negative emotions within you: toxic relationships (friends, family, work colleagues), feeling neglected, a moment of failure from the past. How do these memories still impact you today? Who can you reach out to for help working through these emotions?
3. Journaling helps you relieve stress and sleep better.
There is nothing more frustrating than having your eyes glued to the ceiling fan as you slowly count the hours of sleep that you are losing by being awake. Oftentimes, my anxiety causes me to anticipate unlikely scenarios and imagine the most frightful outcomes. All this imagining keeps me wide-awake at night. Rather than letting fearful thoughts consume my consciousness, I journal about what is stressing me out.
Nothing is more important than your health and mental stability. Purge all the toxic BS out of your brain and feel the relief that comes with it. Having a clear mind is essential for a good night’s rest.
Journaling Topic #3: Take 15 minutes to write about:
Your to do list for the next day. Allocate time to complete the tasks that are stressing you out.
Your stresses. Is your stress based on a fictional scenario? Can you calmly assess the likelihood of your fears coming true? What is at the basis of your fears?
Concluding note
Journaling is a fantastic medium for self-discovery, stress-relief and cultivating gratitude. I encourage you to journal at the same time every day about the previously mentioned topics for one week. Give it a try and tell me about the benefits you are experiencing. I would love to know if it works for you!
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